Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.

Cesar ChavezAddress to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Nov. 9, 1984 ― César Chávez

I was politicized when in high school in Santa Monica. I went to march in Sacramento for better education. I remember as a kid being to close to the stage, so close I saw the sweat and passion of the speakers. Then I saw him. Jessie Jackson took the mic and eloquently spoke and got us all reved up to go back to our school and make improvements. When the great Cesar Chavez passed on, several of us piled into a bus and rode up to his funeral march to pay our respects. Those times forver shaped my social and political leanings. I will always side with the poor, downcast and the invisible. Sometimes the clear road ahead reminds you of the pioneers that first opened these trails. The sacrifices they made; livelihoods, families and in some case their lives.

To boycott is to sacrifice, plain and simple. From King to Chavez, the indigenous to Black Lives Matter, we have a rich history of protest and boycotting that has brought about not only economic and social change but more importantly the one's validation of their humanity and self respect.

When it come to my old profession as an actor in Hollywood, I've seen and been part of movements to get more people of color on the big and small screens since the 90s. We've come a long way in some regards, but when it comes to the gran daddy of them all, the Academy Awards, we are invisible. Why so? The numbers don't lie. In Dennis Romero's stirring LA WEEKLY article, How Hollywood Keeps Minorities Out, I was shocked by some of these statistics.

From 1927 to 2012, 99 percent of Best Actress winners were white, 91 percent of Best Actor winners were white, and 99 percent of Best Director winners were white males, according to an analysis by Lee & Low Books. The writers and producers branches of the Academy are 98 percent white, the publisher found.

With several African american actors and directors of note boycotting the upcoming Oscars, where in all the acting categories not one person of color is nominated, other stars chimes in on the industry's deplorable inequality.

“There should be 20 or 30 or 40 films of the quality that people would consider for the Oscars. By the way, we’re talking about African Americans. For Hispanics, it’s even worse. We need to get better at this. We used to be better at it.” George Clooney

“It’s basically a large group of white men choosing more white people in front of the camera and that has to stop,” said Rick Najera, director of the CBS Diversity Showcase, a series of events designed to promote minority actors and comedians.

Ok reality check for a minute. Are there more important issues of day facing poor and people of color? Yes. Isn't this a huge exercise in ego stroking? Absolutely. So whats the big deal? Well all I can tell you as an actor who has played a soldier, journalist and guard commander I have also played a drug lord twice, a funny illegal, an Aztec blood thirsty shaman and a gang banger. This is considered a good balance of having to play stereotypes to pay the bills and actually garnering roles of merit. And though proud and grateful of my work, I did not get years of private acting lesson and college training to play stereotypes my whole life. I, like so many artists fell in love with entertaining. I loved performing at a very young age for my Mother on so many nights. I dreamt big that one day I would win an award for playing the leading man that takes down evil foes and saves the world. Well as I got older harsh realities of traditional casting practices in my high school told me that I did not belong and would never get the roles I dreamt and desired. The system told me this and I bought it. Later when professionally auditioning I would have to do so with an affected accent and a bandana handy. Hardly the stuff my dreams were made of. I make my peace with it and like I said have had a decent run. So this boycott of the Oscars is of great importance to me. I want actors, directors, writers and producers of colors to claim their pride as artists and demand more from this beloved industry that the entire world looks to for entertainment and hope. We all can do better. Boycott this year's Oscars. See you on down the road.

SAUCIDO WORKS

The Scriptworks and Writings pages features current poems, blogs and script excerpts.Latino Slant is my perspective of music, politics, sports and culture. Finally the Archives page covers my past work as a music and cultural journalist for various publications.

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